Franklin Wins Three Gold Medals as 2011 Austin Grand Prix Swim Meet Concludes
National Team swimmer Missy Franklin turned in the top performance of the night Sunday, taking home three gold medals in the women's 200m IM, 200m back and the 100m free at the 2011 Austin Grand Prix swim meet. The three-day meet, which took place at the University of Texas at Austin, was the second stop of the seven-meet USA Swimming 2011 Grand Prix Swim Meet Series.
In her first event of the evening, Franklin won the 200m IM, beating the rest of the field by a little less than two seconds.
She swam a 2:14.68 for the gold while Kaitlyn Jones was second in 2:16.54. Rachel Bootsma (Eden Prairie, Minn.) was third in 2:18.76.
Franklin's second win of the night was in the women's 200m back against a strong field that included National Teamers Elizabeth Pelton (Baltimore, Md.) and Madison White (Danville, Calif.). Franklin won the event with a time of 2:09.39, Pelton was second in 2:10.51 and White finished third in 2:13.13.
Franklin's final, and closest, race of the night was the women's 100m free. Franklin held off Olympian Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.) to win her third gold in a time of 55.48. Hoff swam a 55.86 for second place while Simone Manuel finished third in 56.34.
Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) won the face-off against Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) in the men's 200m IM race. Lochte led the field from start to finish and won gold with a time of 1:59.26. Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.) had a solid breaststroke leg to take the second-place spot from Phelps. He finished in 2:01.12 while Phelps was third in 2:01.47.
Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.) earned his third gold medal in Austin in the men's 200m back. Clary swam a solid race to win in 1:57.31. Jacob Pebley finished second in 1:59.19 and Nick Thoman (Cincinnati, Ohio) was third in 2:00.75.
In other races, Canada's Brent Hayden won the men's 100m free in 49.91. Lochte placed second in 50.08 and David Walters (Fairfax, Va.) was a very close third in 50.09.
The women's 800m free saw a strong performance from 2008 Olympian Kate Ziegler (Great Falls, Va.). Ziegler finished the race in 8:32.76. Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.) finished second with a time of 8:35.33 and Emily Brunemann (Crescent Springs, Ky.) was third in 8:38.45.
The gold in the men's 1500m free was won by Chip Peterson (Pine Knoll Shores, N.C.) with a time of 15:19.65. Michael Klueh (Evansville, Ind.) was second in 15:25.20 and Andrew Gemmell (Wilmington, Del.) was third in 15:29.95.
The USA Swimming Grand Prix Series continues February, 18-21 with the Missouri Grand Prix in Columbia, Mo. It will be the third stop of the seven-meet series. The overall winner of the Grand Prix Series will be awarded $20,000 at the final Grand Prix held in Santa Clara, Calif., June 16-19, 2011.
Television and online coverage will also be provided of all 2010-2011 USA Swimming Grand Prix events. Universal Sports will broadcast the Austin Grand Prix (January 14-17), the Missouri Grand Prix (February 18-21), the Indianapolis Grand Prix (March 3-5) and the Michigan Grand Prix (April 8-10). Online coverage of all seven events will be provided by Swimnetwork.com and Universalsports.com.
This is the fourth year in a row that prize money has been awarded to the overall point leader of the Grand Prix Series. In its inaugural year in 2008, Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps took home the prize. The 2009 purse went to National Team swimmer Mary DeScenza and Chloe Sutton took home $20,000 in 2010.
The scoring system awards swimmers points based on gold, silver and bronze-medal performances at each of the eight meets. A gold medal earns a swimmer five points, a silver medal is worth three points and a bronze medal is one point. The standings integrate male and female participants, recognizing the swimmer with the highest cumulative point total. In the event of a tie, the winner will be the swimmer who earned the highest single-race FINA power point ranking. Leaders will be tracked online at www.usaswimming.org and in Splash magazine, the official magazine of USA Swimming.
In her first event of the evening, Franklin won the 200m IM, beating the rest of the field by a little less than two seconds.
She swam a 2:14.68 for the gold while Kaitlyn Jones was second in 2:16.54. Rachel Bootsma (Eden Prairie, Minn.) was third in 2:18.76.
Franklin's second win of the night was in the women's 200m back against a strong field that included National Teamers Elizabeth Pelton (Baltimore, Md.) and Madison White (Danville, Calif.). Franklin won the event with a time of 2:09.39, Pelton was second in 2:10.51 and White finished third in 2:13.13.
Franklin's final, and closest, race of the night was the women's 100m free. Franklin held off Olympian Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.) to win her third gold in a time of 55.48. Hoff swam a 55.86 for second place while Simone Manuel finished third in 56.34.
Ryan Lochte (Daytona Beach, Fla.) won the face-off against Michael Phelps (Baltimore, Md.) in the men's 200m IM race. Lochte led the field from start to finish and won gold with a time of 1:59.26. Eric Shanteau (Lilburn, Ga.) had a solid breaststroke leg to take the second-place spot from Phelps. He finished in 2:01.12 while Phelps was third in 2:01.47.
Tyler Clary (Riverside, Calif.) earned his third gold medal in Austin in the men's 200m back. Clary swam a solid race to win in 1:57.31. Jacob Pebley finished second in 1:59.19 and Nick Thoman (Cincinnati, Ohio) was third in 2:00.75.
In other races, Canada's Brent Hayden won the men's 100m free in 49.91. Lochte placed second in 50.08 and David Walters (Fairfax, Va.) was a very close third in 50.09.
The women's 800m free saw a strong performance from 2008 Olympian Kate Ziegler (Great Falls, Va.). Ziegler finished the race in 8:32.76. Katie Hoff (Towson, Md.) finished second with a time of 8:35.33 and Emily Brunemann (Crescent Springs, Ky.) was third in 8:38.45.
The gold in the men's 1500m free was won by Chip Peterson (Pine Knoll Shores, N.C.) with a time of 15:19.65. Michael Klueh (Evansville, Ind.) was second in 15:25.20 and Andrew Gemmell (Wilmington, Del.) was third in 15:29.95.
The USA Swimming Grand Prix Series continues February, 18-21 with the Missouri Grand Prix in Columbia, Mo. It will be the third stop of the seven-meet series. The overall winner of the Grand Prix Series will be awarded $20,000 at the final Grand Prix held in Santa Clara, Calif., June 16-19, 2011.
2010-2011 USA Swimming Grand Prix Swim Meet Series
- Minnesota Grand Prix 12-14 Nov, 2010
Minneapolis, MN - Austin Grand Prix 14-17 Jan, 2011
Austin, TX - Missouri Grand Prix 18-21 Feb, 2011
Columbia, MO - Indianapolis Grand Prix 3-5 Mar, 2011
Indianapolis, IN - Michigan Grand Prix 8-10 Apr, 2011
Ann Arbor, MI - Charlotte UltraSwim Grand Prix 12-15 May, 2011
Charlotte, NC - Santa Clara International Grand Prix 16-19 Jun, 2011
Santa Clara, CA
Television and online coverage will also be provided of all 2010-2011 USA Swimming Grand Prix events. Universal Sports will broadcast the Austin Grand Prix (January 14-17), the Missouri Grand Prix (February 18-21), the Indianapolis Grand Prix (March 3-5) and the Michigan Grand Prix (April 8-10). Online coverage of all seven events will be provided by Swimnetwork.com and Universalsports.com.
This is the fourth year in a row that prize money has been awarded to the overall point leader of the Grand Prix Series. In its inaugural year in 2008, Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps took home the prize. The 2009 purse went to National Team swimmer Mary DeScenza and Chloe Sutton took home $20,000 in 2010.
The scoring system awards swimmers points based on gold, silver and bronze-medal performances at each of the eight meets. A gold medal earns a swimmer five points, a silver medal is worth three points and a bronze medal is one point. The standings integrate male and female participants, recognizing the swimmer with the highest cumulative point total. In the event of a tie, the winner will be the swimmer who earned the highest single-race FINA power point ranking. Leaders will be tracked online at www.usaswimming.org and in Splash magazine, the official magazine of USA Swimming.
